NEOM incorporates the new way of life and the strategic crossroads in trade, innovation, and technology with livability at its core

NEOM aspires to be the safest, most efficient, most future oriented, and best place to live and work

NEOM is developed independent of the Kingdom’s existing governmental framework with investors, businesses, and innovators consulted at every stage of development

NEOM’s unique location connects Asia, Europe, and Africa, will include the world’s most significant and promising economic sectors

NEOM land expands over 26,500 km2; its location will facilitate NEOM’s rapid emergence as a global hub that has the potential to bring together the best of Arabia, Asia, Africa, Europe and America

NEOM will be backed by more than $500 billion over the coming years by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, local as well as international investors

His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), today announced the launch of NEOM.

NEOM is born from the ambition of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 to see the country develop into a pioneering and thriving model of excellence in various and important areas of life. NEOM aims to thrive the transformation of the Kingdom into a leading global hub through the introduction of value chains of industry and technology.

“NEOM will focus on nine specialized investment sectors and living conditions that will drive the future of human civilization, energy and water, mobility, biotech, food, technological & digital sciences, advanced manufacturing, media, and entertainment with livability as its foundation. The focus on these sectors will stimulate economic growth and diversification by nurturing international innovation and manufacturing, to drive local industry, job creation, and GDP growth in the Kingdom. NEOM will attract private as well as public investments and partnerships. NEOM will be backed by more than $500 billion over the coming years by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, local as well as international investors”, said HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Chairman of the Public Investment Fund (PIF).

NEOM commands a unique location to bring together the best of Arabia, Asia, Africa, Europe and America.

NEOM resides in the Northwestern region of Saudi Arabia, and spans over 26,500 km . Overlooking the waterfront of the Red Sea to the South and the West, and the Gulf of Aqaba, NEOM enjoys an uninterrupted coastline stretching over 468 km, with a dramatic mountain backdrop rising to 2,500 m to the East. A constant breeze leads to mild temperatures. The wind and sun will allow NEOM to be powered solely by regenerative energy.

NEOM is situated on one of the world’s most prominent economic arteries, through which nearly a tenth of the world’s trade flows. Its strategic location will also facilitate the zone’s rapid emergence as a global hub that connects Asia, Europe and Africa, enabling 70% of the world’s population to reach it in under eight hours, which brings the potential to combine the best of major global regions in terms of knowledge,technology, research, teaching, learning, living and working.

The site will also become the main entrance to the King Salman Bridge, linking Asia and Africa, which will add to the zone’s economic significance. NEOM’s land mass will extend across the Egyptian and Jordanian borders, rendering NEOM the first private zone to span three countries.

Investments and financing will play a vital role in NEOM, set to be spearheaded by the Kingdom’s economy and supported by PIF – a major global fund with access to a worldwide network of investors and major companies — set to be brought onboard to drive the success of NEOM.

With the ambition of becoming one of the world’s future economic and scientific capitals, in addition to being the future commerce capital of Saudi Arabia, NEOM is set to attract new foreign direct investment that will contribute to PIF’s long-term growth strategy aimed at strengthening the Saudi Arabian economy.

NEOM is developed to be independent of the Kingdom’s existing governmental framework, excluding sovereignty. NEOM will adopt a regulatory framework that fosters technological as well as societal innovation and entrepreneurship in accordance with international best practices. Investors, businesses, and innovators will be consulted at every step of the development in how best to create the economic framework, design the urban plans, and attract top quality talent that will drive the growth of this zone and its resident population.

“NEOM will be constructed from the ground-up, on greenfield sites, allowing it a unique opportunity to be distinguished from all other places that have been developed and constructed over hundreds of years and we will use this opportunity to build a new way of life with excellent economic prospects. Future technologies form the cornerstone for NEOM’s development: Disruptive solutions for transportation from automated driving to passenger drones, new ways of growing and processing food, healthcare centered around the patient for their holistic well-being, wireless high speed internet as a free good called “digital air”, free world-class continuous online education, full scale e-governance putting city services at your fingertips, building codes that make net-zero carbon houses the standard, a city layout that encourages walking and bicycling and all solely powered by renewable energy just to name a few. All of this will allow for a new way of life to emerge that takes into account the ambitions and outlooks of humankind paired with best future technologies and outstanding economic prospects”, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman added.

NEOM will achieve its ambitious goals of becoming among the top secure areas in the world – if not the most– by adopting the future technologies in the fields of security and safety. This will raise the standards of public life activities and ensure the safety and protection of residents, visitors, and investors.

All services and processes in NEOM will be 100% fully automated, with the goal of becoming the most efficient destination in the world, and in turn be implemented on all activities such as legal, government, and investment procedures among others. Additionally, NEOM will be subject to the highest sustainability standards, and will provide all transactions, procedures, and claims through paperless and electronic means.

A new concept for the workforce will be implemented, based on attracting high-caliber human resources with unique competencies for full-time innovation, decision making and business leadership. Repetitive and arduous tasks will be fully automated and handled by robots, which may exceed the population, likely making the NEOM’s GDP per capita the highest in the world. All these elements will put NEOM at the world’s forefront in terms of efficiency which will make it the best destination in the world to live in.

Read the July edition of Saudi Arabia in Focus, the regular update from the Saudi mission to the EU. In this issue:

– The Diplomatic Boycott of Qatar
– The Appointment of the New Crown Prince
– Saudi Arabia’s Contribution to the G-20 Summit in Hamburg
– The Increasing Engagement of Women in the Workforce
– The New Initiative Supporting SME Growth

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made it a priority to extend gender equality and further empower women in Saudi Arabia, and is proud to have been elected to a position on the UN Commission for the Status of Women. Our latest special edition reviews the huge progress that has been made in women’s empowerment, looks ahead to the advances still to come, and celebrates just some of the Saudi women who have reached the top of their professions.

The development of Saudi Arabia is not a recent phenomenon. It is a steady project of modernization, in which each generation builds on the progress of its antecedents. For decades, Saudi Arabia has made an effort to improve the lives of its citizens – using the wealth generated from the Kingdom’s natural resources to fund the social and economic development of the nation. Every measure of human development – life expectancy, infant mortality, literacy, per capita income, etc. – has improved dramatically in the span of a single generation.

In this new white paper, we set out our plans to harness the challenges and opportunities of the new generation as new impetus for development. Vision 2030, the ambitious program of development for the Kingdom unveiled by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in April 2016, seeks to build on Saudi Arabia’s strengths as an investment powerhouse situated in the heart of the Arab and Islamic worlds, with strong geographic connections to Europe, Asia and Africa. The Vision 2030 plan outlines 24 specific goals for the Kingdom to achieve in economic, political and societal development. Vision 2030 further articulates 18 commitments to achieve these goals – with specific initiatives in renewable energy, manufacturing, education, e-governance, entertainment and culture.

Today marks International Women’s Day, an occasion on which to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women across the globe. Over recent decades, the world has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women’s and society’s thoughts about women’s equality. And this counts for Saudi Arabia as it does for the EU’s member states.

Despite having a different system of values, traditions and governance, Saudi Arabia too is changing, and is putting women at the forefront of its transition into the future. Indeed, the role of women is anchored in Vision 2030, the Saudi government’s ambitious economic reform plan, that will boost women’s participation in the workforce from 22 to 30 percent by the end of the next decade.

Already, over the last ten years, women’s employment in Saudi Arabia has increased by 48 percent women, and women outnumber men in Saudi universities. Only last month, Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange – the Tadawul – took the historic step of appointing Sarah Al Suhaimi to the position of chairperson, the first woman to ever hold the position. The announcement was followed by the appointment of Rania Mahmoud Nashar to the position of chief executive of Samba Financial Group, one of Saudi Arabia’s largest national banks.

In the political sphere too, women now represent around 20 percent of the Shoura council’s 150 members, a greater proportion than women in the US Congress according to the World Bank. Equally it was announced earlier this year that Arabia Gulf Air is expanding the variety of roles available to Saudi women, who are now in charge of customer service, data input, passenger information verification, boarding passengers and providing services to first-class passengers, families and people with special needs.

The appointment of women to increasingly diverse roles at different levels of society shows Saudi Arabia’s resolve to boost the presence of women among all levels of its workforce as part of the Vision 2030 roadmap for economic success. The future is brighter than ever.

The remarkable contribution of women to Saudi society is showcased in a book by Dr Mona Salahuddin AlMunajjed, Saudi Women: A Celebration of Success. Dr AlMunajjed is an award-winning and prominent sociologist in her own right, and her work celebrates the success of women in acting as the driving force behind the Kingdom’s development through the 21st century. She demonstrates how the empowerment of women can have social and economic benefits, engendering positive changes through increased creativity and innovation.

There is of course still much progress to be made, and Vision 2030 includes a number of other reform strategies that will see the Kingdom to develop women’s talents, invest in their productive capabilities and enable them to strengthen their future and contribute to the development of the Saudi society and economy. We look forward to Saudi women making crucial contributions in the economic transformation launched by Vision 2030 and securing prosperity for the Kingdom’s future.

The spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Ravina Shamdasani, spoke this week about the numerous reports received on the recruitment of children in Yemen in the armed conflict, mostly by the Popular Committees affiliated with the Houthi rebels. According to the spokesperson, “between 26 March 2015 and 31 January 2017, the UN has verified the recruitment of 1,476 children, all boys. However the numbers are likely to be much higher as most families are not willing to talk about the recruitment of their children, for fear of reprisals.”

Miss Shamdasani added, “just last week, we received new reports of children who were recruited without the knowledge of their families. Children under the age of 18 often join the fighting after either being misled or attracted by promises of financial rewards or social status. Many are then quickly sent to the front lines of the conflict or tasked with manning checkpoints.”

The UN has urged the party concerned to immediately release such children and reminded that the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict is strictly forbidden by international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and when concerning cases of recruitment of children under fifteen may amount to a war crime.

In a statement issued today, the Saudi-led Arab Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen restated its commitment to protecting civilians in Yemen and underscored the steps the alliance has taken to avoid causalities in an ongoing war zone. Among those steps, the Coalition has launched an independent assessment team, fostered active partnerships with relief organizations and focused on safeguarding Yemen’s urban centers as part of a concerted effort to protect civilians and uphold international humanitarian law.

The Coalition’s Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT) is composed of military members, weapons experts and legal specialists in humanitarian rights. The independent group reviews reports of Coalition activities that are known to have led to civilian casualties, and offers recommendations for ways to avoid future incidents.

Among the instituted mechanisms, the Coalition said that it has adopted—and has been following—the policy to issue repeated warnings to Houthi militias and Ali Abdullah Saleh forces so that they can evacuate cities prior to a Coalition air strike. The Coalition also has heightened its emphasis on safeguarding critical infrastructure and, as a result, civilian lives in Yemen’s urban centers.

The Coalition said that it works alongside United Nations agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross as part of a collaborative approach to minimize the possibility of harm to civilians, medical personnel, journalists and relief organizations.

The Coalition cited an August 2016 United Nations report that accused Houthi militias and coup forces of consistently violating the Geneva Convention by using civilians as human shields. Moreover, the Coalition stated that rebel forces use child soldiers and use revenge killings and illegal detentions to terrorize Yemen’s population.

The Cabinet of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Monday 16 January 2017 commended the announcement by the Ministry of Housing of the first steps of the My House Program including 280,000 of residential units at an investment of SR119.5 billion over the next three years. The construction projects, launched in partnership with the private sector, will be offered to Saudi families according to income criteria and the number of family’s members. The housing units will be allocated during the current year as of next month to be completed within a maximum of three years. A total of 75,000 residential plots of land in several cities ready for construction will also be handed over to citizens, stated the report. Financial support to 85,000 deserving citizens will also be provided in one year by the state. This will be done through a partnership between the Real Estate Development Fund, banks, and financing institutions.

The Saudi Cabinet has expressed its congratulations to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques on the occasion of his selection for winning King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam this year in recognition of his care and service to the Two Holy Mosques and their visitors. Also praised were his Majesty’s attention to the Prophet’s biography, support for the project of Historical Atlas for the Prophet’s Life, and constant quest to unify the ranks of Arabs and Muslims to confront the difficult conditions being witnessed by Arab and Islamic nations.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz has issued a royal decree outlining Saudi Arabia’s 2017 budget. The 2017 budget is estimated to reach SAR 890 billion ($237.3), an 8 percent increase from 2016, and is projected to reflect a record 33 percent decrease in the Kingdom’s national deficit.

“Our economy is firm and it has sufficient strength to cope with the current economic and financial challenges,” said King Salman. “We have sought through this budget and its programs to improve the efficiency of capital and operational expenditures in the state, strengthen the situation of public finances, enhance their sustainability, give priority to developmental and service projects and programs that serve citizens directly, contribute to activating the role of the private sector and increase its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product.”

In reaching these goals, the 2017 budget expenditures will focus primarily on the following key sectors:

Military: SAR 191 billion ($51 billion); This will support and expand the Kingdom’s military capabilities.

Economic Resources and General Programs: SAR 155 billion ($41.3 billion); Among the key projects included is the expansion of the Grand Mosque.

Health and Social Development: SAR120 billion ($32 billion); This will enable the construction and subsequent equipping of healthcare centers. 38 new hospitals are already in the process of being built.

Security and Regional Administration: SAR 97 billion ($25.8 billion); The establishment of naval bases for border guards will be among the new projects this budget will facilitate.

Municipality Services: SAR 55 billion ($14.6 billion); This includes the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and municipalities.

National Transformation Plan: SAR 42 billion ($11 billion); This will cover the costs of the NTP initiatives in 2017.

Public Administration: SAR 27 billion ($7.2 billion); This includes projects, programs and 46 new initiatives.

Revenue is projected to reach SAR 692 billion ($184.5 billion) in 2017, a 31 percent increase from initial projections. Oil revenues are expected to increase by 46 percent, and non-oil revenues are estimated to grow by 6.5 percent. Moreover, the budget deficit is expected to reach SAR 198 billion in 2017, reflecting 7.7 percent of the GDP. Combined, these efforts will move the Kingdom closer to its Vision 2030 goal of balancing the budget by 2020.

Saudi Arabia is a member of the G20 and ranks as the 29th most competitive economy in the world, according to World Economic Forum’s 2016-2017 Global Competitiveness Report.